Mind-body exercise improves cognitive function and modulates the function and structure of the hippocampus and anterior cingulate cortex in patients with mild cognitive impairment

Abstract

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a common neurological disorder. This study aims to investigate the modulation effect of Baduanjin (a popular mind-body exercise) on MCI. 69 patients were randomized to Baduanjin, brisk walking, or an education control group for 24 weeks. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging scans were applied at baseline and at the end of the experiment. Compared to the brisk walking and control groups, the Baduanjin group experienced significantly increased MoCA scores. Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) analysis showed significantly decreased ALFF values in the right hippocampus (classic low-freqency band, 0.01-0.08 Hz) in the Baduanjin group compared to the brisk walking group and increased ALFF values in the bilateral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC, slow-5 band, 0.01-0.027 Hz) in the Baduanjin group compared to the control group. Further, ALFF value changes in the right hippocampus and bilateral ACC were significantly associated with corresponding MoCA score changes across all groups. We also found increased gray matter volume in the Baduanjin group in the right hippocampus compared to the brisk walking group and in the bilateral ACC compared to the control group. In addition, there was an increased resting state functional connectivity between the hippocampus and right angular gyrus in the Baduanjin group compared to the control group. Our results demonstrate the potential of Baduanjin for the treatment of MCI.

Keywords: Anterior cingulate cortex; Baduanjin; Hippocampus; Mild cognitive impairment; Mind-body intervention; Resting state functional connectivity; Voxel-based morphometry.

Fig. 1

Brain regions with significant ALFF value change in different bands and scatter plots showing the association between ALFF values of the significant cluster and corresponding MoCA scores. (A) ALFF value changes in the classic-low frequency band (0.01–0.08 Hz). (A1) Compared to the brisk walking group, Baduanjin significantly decreased ALFF value in the right hippocampus. (A2) Scatter plots showing the association between ALFF value change of the right hippocampus and corresponding MoCA score changes adjusted for age, gender, education, groupID, and baseline MoCA score. (B) ALFF value changes at 0.027–0.073 Hz. (B1) Baduanjin significantly increased ALFF value in the right mPFC compared to the control group; (B2) Baduanjin significantly decreased ALFF value in the right hippocampus compared to the control group. (C) ALFF value changes at 0.01–0.027 Hz. (C1) Compared to the control group, Baduanjin significantly increased ALFF value in the bilateral anterior cingulate cortex. (C2) Scatter plots showing the association between ALFF value change of the anterior cingulate cortex and corresponding MoCA score changes adjusted for age, gender, education, groupID, and baseline MoCA score.